Phil Davis, the longtime president of Minneapolis Community and Technical College, is leaving this summer to lead efficiency efforts at the state’s system of public colleges and universities.

He will become an associate vice chancellor and direct the system’s Campus Service Cooperative, an initiative designed to streamline its business practices.

Davis, who has served for more than 17 years, will leave in September. He will handle both jobs until then.

The presidency “has been my life’s most extraordinary learning experience,” he wrote his staff on Tuesday.

The president leaves at a time when tensions have risen between some faculty and his administration.

In December 2012, the faculty union gave Davis a vote of “no confidence” in his governance.

He recently rescinded a letter of reprimand to a black instructor that had sparked widespread media coverage of the college’s attitudes on race. She had reportedly engaged in a heated argument with some white students over the need to hold a class discussion about structural racism.

Rosenstone has backed Davis in the past, and wrote in a letter Tuesday to college personnel:

“Phil not only understands who we are and whom we serve, but how to creatively and consistently deliver exceptional service to students and communities while at the same time carefully developing and stewarding our human and financial resources.”

Rosenstone said he’s searching for an interim replacement to start Sept. 2, and will visit the campus June 4 to consult with the campus community.

Davis will replace Colin Dougherty, who Rosenstone said “has decided that now is the right time for him move on to other challenges.”

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.